Johannesburg - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will present
the government's 2012 budget on Wednesday afternoon, amid speculation it
would reach more than a trillion rand due to a planned infrastructure roll-out.
"The question remains whether government will be able
to spend this trillion rand in such a way that we get value," Congress of
the People spokesperson Nick Koornhof said on Tuesday.
A trillion is a million million, or one followed by 12
zeros. Gordhan will probably forecast a shortfall of 5.4% of gross domestic
product in the year through March 2013, according to the median estimate of 10
economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Gordhan estimated a deficit of 5.2% in
October.
In his state of the nation address last week, President
Jacob Zuma pledged to invest in infrastructure, without introducing new taxes
or increasing the forecast deficit of 5.2%.
The Democratic Alliance proposed partially privatising state
enterprises to boost infrastructure spending to 10% of the national
budget. Spokesperson Tim Harris said the government should follow the example
of Brazil, which this month raised some R70bn by privatising operations at its
three biggest state-owned airports.
South Africa's infrastructure drive could be boosted by
R55bn a year by partially listing state-owned enterprises and selling off their
existing assets and investing the proceeds into build projects, he said.
Trade union Solidarity agreed this year's budget was likely
to break the trillion rand level for the first time in the country's history.
The union wanted, among other things, relief for taxpayers and clear signs of
fiscal responsibility.
Mark Weinberg of the Alternative Information Development
Centre, and representing a number of other civil society organisations, urged
higher taxes for the rich.
The budget speech will be broadcast on national television at 2pm.